Historic place
Fukui Prefecture has many tourist spots with historic buildings and sites such as shrines, temples, castle ruins, Japanese garden, and so on. Why don't you visit these places representing the very essence of the beauty and tradition of Japan?

Ichijodani Asakura Clan Ruins

Youkoukan Garden

Yamazatoguchi Castle gate

Genkurou Fujino Memorial Hall

Tsuruga Red Brick Warehouse

Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum

Mansions of the Ukons

Kumagawa-juku

Kumagawa-juku

Kumagawa-juku used to be an important post town connecting Wakasa region and Kyoto that developed into a post-station town especially since 1589. There remain the sites of a magistrate’s office, a guard house, and a treasury store house among quaint old houses on the street with a time-honored irrigation ditch by the side of the street through which clear water is running. Historical documents and business diaries from the Toyotomi period to the end of the feudal government period are preserved in this old post-station town. Kumagawa-juku is chosen as an important preservation district for groups of historic buildings which preserve old townscape that reminds the visitors of prosperity in the past. In 2015, Saba-kaido Road including Kumagawa-juku was officially designated as Japan Heritage under the name of “Miketsukuni Wakasa and Saba-kaido”. (Miketsukuni Wakasa refers to Wakasa region including Kumawaga-juku which transported food to the royal family and Imperial Court in Kyoto, an ancient capital of Japan. Saba-kaido refers to the highway which used to transport fish such as mackerel called “saba” in Japanese to Kyoto.)

Ichijodani Asakura Clan Ruins

Located in Ichijodani about 10 kilometers to the southeast of Fukui City, Ichijodani Asakura Clan Ruins are the site of a castle town in Sengoku Period, the Age of Civil Wars, when five generations of Asakura clan ruled Echizen Province for 103 years. Old constructions such as warrior’s residences, temples, merchant’s houses, craftsman’s houses, and even streets have been excavated almost completely. It is designated by the government as a special historic site and a place of special scenic beauty.

Take a Keifuku bus bound for “Jyoukyouji” at JR Fukui Station. Get off at “Bukeyashiki mae”. Limited-time through bus service is available. / Take JR Etsumihokusen Line at JR Fukui Station. Get off at Ichijodani Station and walk 15 minutes. / 10-minute drive from Hokuriku Expressway Fukui IC

Estimated time required:

A few minutes to a few hours

Parking space:

Available

Admission fee:

Charge-free / Restored houses: 210 yen (Group discount available for people over 20) / Charge-free for children under 12, the physically handicapped, and the aged over 70

Youkoukan Garden

Youkoukan Garden was the second residence of the Matsudairas, the domain lord of Fukui Domain, which used to be called “Osensui yashiki” in Edo Period. This circuit-style Japanese garden with a pond in the center is mainly composed of various wooden buildings with a traditional Japanese architectural style called “shoin-zukuri” and a spacious, clear pond, both of which were designed making much account of the entire harmony of this garden. It was widely known as one of the outstanding gardens representing mid-Edo Period. Unfortunately, traditional buildings inside the garden were all burnt down by an extensive air raid on Fukui City in 1945. However, designation by the government as a place of national scenic beauty in 1982 gave an opportunity to initiate extensive restoration project based on “Osensui sashizu”, an old drawing of this garden made in 1823. Now the visitors can enjoy appreciating not only various traditional buildings and a pond, but also a pea gravel path, arrangement of rocks, trees and shrubs, and so forth which have distinctive taste of seasonal scenery.

Address:

3-11 Hoei, Fukui City

Opening hours:

9 am to 7 pm (March 1 to Nov. 5) (entry by 6:30 pm)9 am to 5 pm (Nov. 6 to the end of Feb.) (entry by 4:30 pm)

210 yen (people over 15) * Common ticket with Fukui Prefectural Museum of Cultural History:340 yen (adults) / Group discount available for people over 20 / Charge-free for children under 12, people over 70, and people with disability certificates and their caregivers

Mansions of the Ukons

Along National Route 305 in Minami Echizen-cho stand gorgeous mansions of the Ukons that remind us of their former glory. The Ukons used to be a shipowner family of cargo vessels named Kitamae-Bune, sailboats in charge of cargo shipment that sailed the Japan Sea during Edo and Meiji Period connecting Hokkaido and Honshu Island. A two-storied mansion with Kamigata-style gabled roof, a Western-style mansion provided with every luxury imaginable, and other old buildings in the premises calmly tell us former splendor of the Ukons who used to own some 30 Kitamae-Bune sailboats in their prime.

Genkurou Fujino Memorial Hall

Commemorating friendship city agreement concluded in 1983 between Awara-cho and Shaoxing City in Zhejian Province, China, former residence of Genkurou Fujino in Shuku, Mikuni-cho was donated to Awara-cho by his descendant. In July, 1984 when the 100th anniversary of Awara hot spring was held, it was relocated to the present site and officially named as “Genkurou Fujino Memorial Hall”, where precious documents, photos and personal belongings are displayed indicating strong relationship as a teacher and a student beyond the border between Dr. Fujino, a professor of anatomy at Sendai Medical College, which is now known as the Medical School of Tohoku University, and Zhou Shuren, a student from China, later known as Lu Xun, a famous Chinese novelist and thinker.

Address:

Yunomachi Hiroba, Awaraonsen

Opening hours:

9 am to 6 pm

Closed day:

Tuesdays & Dec. 28 to Jan. 3

Location:

Get off at JR Fukui Station and make a transfer to Echizen Railway. Get off at Awarayunomachi Station. Walk 1 minute.

Tsuruga Red Brick Warehouse

Tsuruga City in Fuku Prefecture once prospered as an international city connecting Japan and the European Continent by way of the trans-Siberia Railroad in Russia. “Tsuruga Red Brick Warehouse”, which symbolizes the prosperity in those days, was designed by a foreign engineer and built in 1905 originally as a warehouse for storing oil. Later it was also used for storing military equipment or dried seaweed. It has been known as one of the oldest and most prominent constructs made of bricks in Fukui Prefecture. The north building, south building, and the brick wall were collectively designated as one of the Nation’s Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in January 2009.
The whole buildings were renovated and newly opened in October 2015. The north building is now called “Diorama Hall” where visitors can enjoy watching a huge diorama of Tsuruga port and railroad tracks on which various model trains are running. The south building was changed into a restaurant where the visitors can enjoy the food and conversation appreciating a tasteful atmosphere created by the old red bricks of the warehouse.

Wednesday (the following day if it is a national holiday) / Dec. 31 to Jan. 2

Location:

* Get off at Tsuruga Interchange of Maizuru Wakasa Expressway.
* Get off at JR Tsuruga Station (JR Hokuriku Line & Obama Line)

Admission fee:

North building (Diorama Hall): Adults: 400 yen (Group: 320 yen)
Children under 6: 200 yen (Group:160 yen)
* Group discount available for a group over 20 people
* Experiencing model train operation: 100 yen per one time and one model train.

Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum

Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum displays materials and documents related to Polish orphans rescued in Siberia in 1920 as well as Jewish refugees who fled from Nazi Germany in 1940 carrying “visas for survival” issued by Mr. Chiune Sugihara, an acting consul of Japanese consulate office in Kaunas in the Republic of Lithuania. The museum displays articles, photos, documents, etc. that tell the visitors not only how Tsuruga City and its ordinary citizens were actually involved with these orphans and Jewish refugees, but how they warmly welcomed them during their brief stay there in the course of their long journey seeking relief and freedom. In the Jewish refugees section are displayed precious photos, documents etc. such as recorded voice of the late Mr. Sugihara, wrist watches Jewish refugees left to the citizens in Tsuruga City, reproductions of “visas for survival”, precious documents of testimonies by the citizens who witnessed Jewish refugees in the city, and so forth. The word “museum” used for the name of this building refers to “a resource center” in Polish.

Address:

44-1 Kanegasaki ryokuchi, Kanegasaki-cho, Tsuruga City

Opening hours:

9 am to 5 pm

Closed day:

Dec. 29 to Jan. 3

Location:

Take a community bus “Shigaichi junkansen” or “Kaigan sen” at JR Tsuruga Station. Get off at “Kanegasaki ryokuchi”. / Take a “Gurutto Tsuruga shuyu bus” at JR Tsuruga Station. Get off at “Kanegasaki ryokuchi”. / About10-minute drive from Hokuriku Expressway Tsuruga IC

Yamazatoguchi Castle gate

Fukui Castle was built in 1606 by Hideyasu Yūki, the second son of Ieyasu Tokugawa.It was a vast castle surrounded by multiple moats with a main keep tower 30 meters in height.However, the main keep and its towers were burnt down in 1669 due to a large fire. The main keep was not rebuilt since then. Instead, the Tatsumi Tower (located in the southeast corner of the inner compound) and the Hitsujisaru Tower (located in the southwest corner of the inner compound) were rebuilt. These 3-story towers were used in place of the main keep.Fukui Castle was a residence of the Echizen Matsudaira family until the end of the Tokugawa Period. After the Meiji Period, the towers and walls were destroyed, and all the moats were filled in except for the inner moat.

Address:

3-17, Ohte, Fukui City

Opening hours:

7am to 6pm

Location:

10-minute walk from JR Fukui Station

Admission fee:

free

Parking:

Not Available

Contact info:

Transportation and City Development Division, Fukui Prefectural Government 0776-20-0724